Tuesday, 6 September 2011

Bento Tools - Nori Punch

Nori Puncher is a very useful tool if you are want to make Charaben (Characters lunchboxes) It comes in many shapes, sizes and colors. Though having a variety makes the bentoing faster and easier, you do not need a lot to get the job done. I will share with you what I own, and give my own reviews on them. I will also share with you on the 2 different types of Nori that you can use.

These are my collection of nori punchers, I keep all of them in a tool box for easy access. hehe, I still have space for 2 or 3 more, but I am trying to control my buying of bento tools. :P

The shoe punchers are my favourite and I highly recommend them. The quality is good, they are easy to use and cuts well.

These are from Daiso, which means they are really cheap, only $2 each. BUT they are not easy to use, and not long lasting, I've one that was spoilt within weeks and I hardly used it. :(

These comes in a set of 3. They are easier to use than the Daiso punchers, but not as good as the shoe punchers. For the price they are worth, I think the shoe punchers are a much better investment.

These are from Carla Craft, they are used for punching paper, but they work well on nori as well. These are good, they punch well and are lasting. They are good when you want smaller cut-outs, as the cut-outs from the other punchers are bigger.

This is a free gift that comes with the purchase of Kaerenmama bento book. I am not sure whether to recommend this, coz even though I like the cut-outs from this very much, the mechanism is not very good and will spoil if you are not careful with it. Er, so you decide for yourself yah. :P

If you are clueless about which one to get first, I highly recommend you to get the multi-face shoe puncher, and maybe one or two carla craft punchers. :)

There are 2 kinds of seaweed, seasoned(the left one in pic) and unseasoned(the big packet on the right). The seasoned ones are more difficult to keep, and they soften really fast once opened. And seasoned seaweed might also kill the lifespan of your puncher. So, most people prefer to use the unseasoned seaweed.

I usually buy both types, that is because my boys like to eat the seasoned seaweed as a snack. For storing, you can keep them in a ziplock bag with the desiccant at room temperature.

As for the unseasoned seaweed, I usually cut up some and store them in an airtight container, with the desiccant. I will store some uncut sheets in ziplock bag as well, as I use them for sushi.

U can get extra desiccant from Daiso. :)

Please note that the above is purely my own personal review from a user point of view, without any sponsorship from any supplier. :)

UPDATE (as of 30 May 2012)
This is the brand of seaweed I usually buy, it's darker than the seaweed I shared previously in this post.

Hi Glory! I'm glad you find it useful. :) Tks for the idea, I'll add in a small part on the nori tomorrow after I take the pictures. :) You can check out the online bento stores link on the right of my page, some of them carry quite a range of punchers.

Ohh I'm so happy that you made this post. I have been looking for these 2 green multi-face shoe punchers EVERYWHERE on the internet, couldn't find them !!! I really really want to order them, and other as well. Do you know a good website that delivers in France ?? I would love to know... I saw that you have one with "stitch" written on it, does it make stitch face for nori ??? Thank you in advance for your answer !!

Kelyrin, you can check out those online bento shops on my side bar, they all do ship internationally but you have to check with them on shipping cost. I actually bought mine in Japan, but they are available at most of the online stores at my sidebar. Jmama is located in Singapore, and bentocraft and new stylish Tokyo are in Malaysia. Jlist and bento and co ships from Japan, the rest should be from the States. Ah, yes, the stitch puncher does punch out stitch's face, and it comes with a cutter and stamper tool too. They have a few characters under that range, Marie, Mickey, Minnie, Pooh, etc. Let me know if you need further help. :)

Recently I saw on B&C and somewhere else that there's a nori cutter, not puncher. At least, it seems to be. Instructions are not clear to me, do you think nori can be cut accurately with a plastic cutter something like a cheese/ham cutter? Or if you have any already, please share feedback!

Sorry, Lulu, I nvr tried or own one of those b4, so can't really help. I don't want to give wrong info or mislead u, maybe try checking at ezbento to see anyone owns one? Or check with the bento sellers like jmama?

Hi Ming. Do you pre prepare your nori cutting a night before? I'm new in this and doing very slow. I cut the nori, keep in airtight container then put inside fridge. But the cut nori all "wrinkled " or softened on next morning. Please advise. Thanks.

No, I've not done that before. I've only done nori onto cheese, and then left overnight in an airtight container in the fridge. Cut nori usually soften quite fast in our weather, maybe try leaving at room temperature with a desiccant in airtight container.

Hi Ming, did you apply some oil for the shoe puncher? can you share how you take care/clean the punchers? coz mine went into 2 pieces already T.T hubby said its too "dry" & caused the seaweed stuck inside. I opened up & try to removed the seaweed, the metal piece ended up break into 2

I've not oil them b4. I usually just clean with a wet cloth and then dry with kitchen towel. So far, the multi shoe punchers and Carla craft ones that I recommend are still working fine, had them for more than 3 years. Oh yah, can sharpen my punching aluminum foil but I never try out myself.

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Just a mum from Singapore who enjoys making food cute for her 2 boys. I do not conduct bento demos, workshops and talks. Neither do I attend media events. For other collaborations and enquiries, please drop me an email at bentomonsters@gmail.com